AP PSYCHOLOGY MIDTERM REVIEW
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT DETAILED
ANSWERS.
GRADED A+
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
psychology. ANSWER - the scientific study of behavior and mental processes
empiricism. ANSWER - the view that (a) knowledge comes from experience via the senses,
(b) science flourishes through observation and experiment
structuralism. ANSWER - an early school of psycholgy that used introspection to explore
the elemental structure of the human mind
functionalism. ANSWER - a school of psychology that focused on how mental and
behavioral processes function - how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and
flourish
humanistic psychology. ANSWER - historically signifficant perspective that emphasized
the growth potential of healthy people; used personalized methods to study personality in
hopes of fostering personal growth
nature-nurture issue. ANSWER - the longstanding controversy over the relative
contrabutions that genes and experience make to the development or psychological traits
and behaviors
natural selection. ANSWER - the principle that among the range of inherited trait
variations, those contributong to reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to
succeeding generations
,levels of analysis. ANSWER - the differing complementary views, from biological to
psychological to social-cultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon
biopsychosocial approach. ANSWER - an integrated perspective that incorporates
biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis
basic research. ANSWER - pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base
applied research. ANSWER - scientific study that aims to solve practical problems
counseling psychology. ANSWER - a branch of psychology that assists people with
problems in living (often related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving greater
wellbeing
clinical psychology. ANSWER - a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats
people with psychological disorders
psychiatry. ANSWER - a branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders;
practiced by physicians who sometimes provide medical treatments(for example, drug) as
well as psychological therapies
hindsight bias. ANSWER - the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one
would have foreseen it (also known as the I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon)
critical thinking. ANSWER - thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and
conclusions - rather, it examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence,
and assesses conclusions
theory. ANSWER - an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes and
predicts observations
hypothesis. ANSWER - a testable prediction, often implied by a theory
,operational definition. ANSWER - a statement of the procedures (operations) used to
define research variables
replication. ANSWER - repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different
participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding extends to other
participants and circumstances
case study. ANSWER - an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth
in the hope of revealing universal principles
survey. ANSWER - a technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of
people, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of them
false consensus effect. ANSWER - the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others
share our beliefs and behaviors
population. ANSWER - all the cases in a group, from which samples may be drawn for a
study
random sample. ANSWER - a sample that fairly represents a population because each
member has an equal chance of inclusion
naturalistic observation. ANSWER - observing and recording behavior in naturally
occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation
correlation coefficient. ANSWER - a statistical measure of the extent to which two factors
vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other
scatterplot. ANSWER - a graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of
two variables
illusory correlation. ANSWER - the perception of a relationship where none exists
, experiment. ANSWER - a research method in which an investigator manipulates one or
more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process
double-blind procedure. ANSWER - an experimental procedure in which both the research
participants and the research staff are ignorant about whether the research participants
have received the treatment or the placebo
placebo effect. ANSWER - experimental results caused by expectations alone
experimental condition. ANSWER - the condition of an experiment that exposes
participants to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable
control condition. ANSWER - the condition of an experiment that contrasts with the
experimental condition and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the
treatment
random assignment. ANSWER - assigning participants to experimental and control
conditions by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to
different groups
independent variable. ANSWER - the experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable
whose effect is being studied
dependent variable. ANSWER - the experimental factor that is being measured; the
variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable
mode. ANSWER - the most frequently occurring score in a distribution
mean. ANSWER - the arithmetic average of a distribution
median. ANSWER - the middle score in a distribution
range. ANSWER - the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT DETAILED
ANSWERS.
GRADED A+
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
psychology. ANSWER - the scientific study of behavior and mental processes
empiricism. ANSWER - the view that (a) knowledge comes from experience via the senses,
(b) science flourishes through observation and experiment
structuralism. ANSWER - an early school of psycholgy that used introspection to explore
the elemental structure of the human mind
functionalism. ANSWER - a school of psychology that focused on how mental and
behavioral processes function - how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and
flourish
humanistic psychology. ANSWER - historically signifficant perspective that emphasized
the growth potential of healthy people; used personalized methods to study personality in
hopes of fostering personal growth
nature-nurture issue. ANSWER - the longstanding controversy over the relative
contrabutions that genes and experience make to the development or psychological traits
and behaviors
natural selection. ANSWER - the principle that among the range of inherited trait
variations, those contributong to reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to
succeeding generations
,levels of analysis. ANSWER - the differing complementary views, from biological to
psychological to social-cultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon
biopsychosocial approach. ANSWER - an integrated perspective that incorporates
biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis
basic research. ANSWER - pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base
applied research. ANSWER - scientific study that aims to solve practical problems
counseling psychology. ANSWER - a branch of psychology that assists people with
problems in living (often related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving greater
wellbeing
clinical psychology. ANSWER - a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats
people with psychological disorders
psychiatry. ANSWER - a branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders;
practiced by physicians who sometimes provide medical treatments(for example, drug) as
well as psychological therapies
hindsight bias. ANSWER - the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one
would have foreseen it (also known as the I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon)
critical thinking. ANSWER - thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and
conclusions - rather, it examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence,
and assesses conclusions
theory. ANSWER - an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes and
predicts observations
hypothesis. ANSWER - a testable prediction, often implied by a theory
,operational definition. ANSWER - a statement of the procedures (operations) used to
define research variables
replication. ANSWER - repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different
participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding extends to other
participants and circumstances
case study. ANSWER - an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth
in the hope of revealing universal principles
survey. ANSWER - a technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of
people, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of them
false consensus effect. ANSWER - the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others
share our beliefs and behaviors
population. ANSWER - all the cases in a group, from which samples may be drawn for a
study
random sample. ANSWER - a sample that fairly represents a population because each
member has an equal chance of inclusion
naturalistic observation. ANSWER - observing and recording behavior in naturally
occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation
correlation coefficient. ANSWER - a statistical measure of the extent to which two factors
vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other
scatterplot. ANSWER - a graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of
two variables
illusory correlation. ANSWER - the perception of a relationship where none exists
, experiment. ANSWER - a research method in which an investigator manipulates one or
more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process
double-blind procedure. ANSWER - an experimental procedure in which both the research
participants and the research staff are ignorant about whether the research participants
have received the treatment or the placebo
placebo effect. ANSWER - experimental results caused by expectations alone
experimental condition. ANSWER - the condition of an experiment that exposes
participants to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable
control condition. ANSWER - the condition of an experiment that contrasts with the
experimental condition and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the
treatment
random assignment. ANSWER - assigning participants to experimental and control
conditions by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to
different groups
independent variable. ANSWER - the experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable
whose effect is being studied
dependent variable. ANSWER - the experimental factor that is being measured; the
variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable
mode. ANSWER - the most frequently occurring score in a distribution
mean. ANSWER - the arithmetic average of a distribution
median. ANSWER - the middle score in a distribution
range. ANSWER - the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution
